Open Innovations 2016: Top-Notch Speakers, Fantastic Ideas, Benefits for Society

Moscow — Last October 26 – 28, Skolkovo Technopark hosted the 5th annual Open Innovations Forum. This event was important for developing Russia’s innovative ecosystem. This Forum welcomed more than 13 500 guests from more than 100 countries, 600 speakers, hosted more than 100 sessions. More than 300 investors and venture funds, about 1 200 representatives of innovative structures, more than 2 000 corporate representatives, and 3 000 startups took part in the Forum.

This year for three days Skolkovo Technopark became a working space for open discussions, associate meetings and a search for partners and investors. The Forum’s success was the direct result of the number of meetings held and agreements achieved – above 700 negotiations were conducted on the venue, more than 50 partner agreements were signed.

Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of Russia, said: “This year, the Forum is to take place at Skolkovo Technopark, which is considered to be the largest technopark in Europe. It is a clear example of a successful start-up that helps to implement interesting projects and generate original ideas. I am sure that participants of the Open Innovations Forum felt the unique atmosphere of a joint intention to get new knowledge.”

Arkady Dvorkovich, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Ofir Akunis, Israel’s Minister of Science, Technology and Space, Dr Koh Poh Koon, Minister of Trade and Industry of Singapore, Viktor Vekselberg, Head of Skolkovo Fund, and Oleg Bocharov, Head of the Moscow Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship, participated in the Forum.

This year Israel was the partner-state of the Forum. Science and technology are the most developed spheres in the country, which is 4th in the world in the sphere of scientific research. This topic was discussed during the “Startup Nation”: doing business Israel’s way – transfer of best practices” session. Yossi Matias, the Managing Director of Google’s R&D Center in Israel and the author of Trends, Insights for Search, gave a talk on artificial intelligence and smart machines. Yossi Vardi, the ‘godfather’ of Israel’s hi-tech, led the meeting of global startup communities’ leaders.

Other prominent figures of global innovative process led several events of the Forum. Paul Misener (USA), the vice-president of Amazon, shared the secret to the company’s success. Dirk Alborn (USA), CEO in JumpStarter Inc. and Hyperloop Transportation, offered his view on megaprojects. Bas Lansdorp (the Netherlands), co-founder of Mars One, discussed the prospect of colonizing the Red Planet.

The Open Innovations Forum is held annually in Moscow since 2012. The Forum is organized by the Skolkovo Foundation and co organized by the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, Moscow City government, RUSNANO Fund for Infrastructure and Educational programs, Russian Venture Company, Vnesheconombank, and the Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises.

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